Hi,
Most people here tend to forget or overlook that the NVDA screen reader has
evolved to a useable screen reader, and it is free running on the Windows
platform.
And yes you can by a Mac Mini now, but why not wait maybe a year and get
either a cheap used current model or a newer model that will have even
better hardware than the curretn model?
Claus
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Oyen" <eric.o...@gmail.com>
To: <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, October 08, 2010 11:33 AM
Subject: Re: Pondering the switch to a Mac (blind but with residual vision)
Ricardo,
that may be true. I thought I had a decade or more before I was total. How
wrong I was. I had taken the mac plunge last year at the insistence of a
good friend. I have not regretted it. 4 months ago, I was happily using my
mac in screen magnifier m ode. the color inversion thing wasn't exactly
useful for me, but the grey scale tool in the universal access toolbox was.
The problem with low vision is that it can vary from person to person. I
couldn't see blues or greens much, and red was almost a grey anyway. I
hadn't figured the color configurator yet. 3 months ago, I developed a nasty
eye infection. I ended up wearing eye shields for almost 3 weeks, and
suffering through extreme pain for a lot of time after that. my vision had
gone from 5% down to less than 2% (measured). Light was such a bother, that
I couldn't even turn on my screen. During the time I was wearing eye
shields, I turned on voiceover and discovered that I could use the machine
almost like before (only a little slower). almost 4 weeks ago, my eyes
failed completely and I have been using voiceover ever since.
the above is why I am pushing david so hard to start using VO. he has no
idea how long his eyesight will last (if it does) and its only going to get
harder to use his eyes with time (and more painful as he tries harder to use
ever dwindling visual function). it is better that he get into the idea of
using voiceover (and a mac) now while he can still use it easily. Believe
me, learning the finer points of VO after you lose your eyes is enormously
harder (and its made even more so by the fact that I have to learn braille
and touch typing also). As of tonight, I can touch type ok (still slow and
my backspace key is getting a real workout), I am still learning braille (at
a snails pace) and I am a lot more familiar with my mac than I have ever
been. This beats the hell out of waiting to either save the $1,000 to get
the accessibility package for windows, or have the state pay for it as part
of a vocational rehab program (which I am on a year long waiting list for).
its not worth the wait in either case (and I will go crazy with boredom if
forced to wait that long for any services).
one last point, a mac mini costs about $800 for the basic unit with snow
leopard installed. it uses about 45 watts of power under full load (about
1/5th that of an ordinary PC) and it doesn't cost you and extra $800
to$1,000 to make it accessible. that mac will also serve through several OS
X upgrades without needing the hardware upgraded. this alone makes it worth
the cost to invest now.
-Eric
On Oct 8, 2010, at 1:10 AM, Ricardo Walker wrote:
Hi,
I think you guys are kinda losing focus on this one. David didn't ask for
advice on what accessibility tool would work best with his vision. :). We
are not his doctors. For all we know, He might not need the use of a
screenreader for a decade or more. He did stat after all he probably
won't need a screen reader for a few computers down the road. It almost
sounds like you guys don't have the answer to his questions so your just
thrusting voiceover in his face. JMO.
On Oct 7, 2010, at 4:47 PM, Ray Foret Jr wrote:
With all due respect to you David, (the David considering the Mac), I
cannot agree more with both David and Eric. Best to get the Mac now and
just take the plunge. Sight is a precious thing; but, if yours is going,
and you know that, why acat as if it isn't? Wouldn't it be better, (and
frankly cause you more relief), to just go right ahead and inapt
solutions which will serve you better in the long run?
Sincerely,
The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!
A Very Proud and Happy Mac User!!!
E-Mail:
rforetjr at comcast dot net
Skype Name:
barefootedray
On Oct 7, 2010, at 3:33 PM, David Taylor wrote:
Hi,
My experience is that, in general, people who still have some sight spend
so much time trying to use that sight that they really struggle to use
any other sense. The beauty of buying a Mac now is that you can freely
switch from method to method of access right away, so you could use the
Mac as is until you want something reading and simply start Voice Over
for that task and then quit it again. Voice Over is used by people with
dyslexia as well as blind people. Alex is such a good voice that even
sighted people can cope with listening to him.
Cheers
Dave
On 7 Oct 2010, at 20:48, Eric Oyen wrote:
I wholeheartedly agree.
spare yourself the increased pain of trying to use fading vision and get
a mac with voiceover on it NOW. learn voiceover and you'll be all set to
go when vision finally fails. believe me when I say this: you don't want
to be stuck trying to learn voiceover while dealing with the fact that
you went totally blind only a short time earlier (I have and its hard).
-Eric
On Oct 7, 2010, at 6:28 AM, Ray Foret Jr wrote:
To speak frankly, David, let me say this to you.
If you know your vision is going, why cheet yourself out of a Mac now?
Why not just make the jump to Mac right away and start using Voice Over?
It seems to me, (IMHO) that you're consintrating too much on using the
little sight you have left, and therefore, on the wrong thing. I think
it would benefit you to get a Mac now, and, just take the plundge.
Sincerely,
The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!
A Very Proud and Happy Mac User!!!
E-Mail:
rforetjr at comcast dot net
Skype Name:
barefootedray
On Oct 7, 2010, at 8:21 AM, David Goodwin wrote:
Hi all,
Just back from the local Apple retailer. I had anticipated having a Mac
Mini under my arm at this point, so I am a little surprised (and
probably a little disappointed too) that I have returned home
empty-handed.
I had gone to the store to see how the Mac would perform with a
combination of magnification and a white on black colour scheme. The
magnification worked well, but unfortunately the white on black colour
scheme was less satisfactory. I had hoped that it would be similar to
the high contrast feature on the PC, where it basically rewrites the
colours used by the operating system and software (albeit it not always
successfully). This means that on a PC I can have it so that nearly all
screen elements (desktop, toolbars, tooltips, menus, etc) are shown in
my preferred colours. However, on the Mac all that I can do is invert
all the colours that are on the screen. Apart from doing ugly things to
images and video, this is far from ideal when the screen contains both
dark on light elements and light on dark elements. This means that I
cannot simply turn on high contrast and forget about it. Instead, I
suspect I would be constantly toggling colour inversion on and off
depending upon what is on the screen at the time.
Unless I have missed something, this might make a PC a better option for
now.
Regards
David
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Eric Oyen - N7ZZT
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Eric Oyen - N7ZZT
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